The Caribbean Zouk band Kassav’ will perform in Kigali on Valentine’s Day February 14, at the Kigali Convention Centre.

Rwandan afro-R&B artiste Christopher Muneza will also perform at the event, after a long break from performing. He had taken a break to focus on managing his career.

Kassav’ are known for songs like Ou la, Mwen Alé, Siwo and Kolé Séré, which cement their status as a prominent live band.

The group formed in 1979 with members Pierre Edouard Decimus, Freddy Marshall, Jacob Desvarieux and Georges Decimus teaming up other musicians like Jocelyne Bernard, to explore Caribbean, funk and rock folkloric fusion.

Current members include vocalists and instrumentalists, Jocelyne Beroard, Jacob Descvarieux, Feddy Hovsepian, Hamid Belhocine, Philippe Joseph, Jean-Philippe Marthely among others.

The group has recorded and released 20 albums, including 12 solo albums, which include; Love and Ka Dance, the group’s debut album released forty years ago, which saw the development of zouk as an independent genre.

The group went on to release more albums like Lagué Moin (1980), Kassav’ 3 (1981), George Décimus with Kassa’ (1982), Kassav’ (1983), Kassav’ 5 (1983), Passeport (1983), Ayé (1984) and An-ba-che’n la (1985), Vin Pou (1987), Majestik Zouk (1989).

More recently, the band released Tekit izi in 1992 and Dife in 1995.

The band members have also ventured into film and were cast in Simeon, a film directed by Euzhan Palcy, and they wrote and performed the film’s theme songs.

Simeon was a success and scooped several awards at events like the Milan Film Festival among others.